Feel
by Shadow1986
Summary: Elle kidnaps Claire during Eclipse. Elle x Claire. Adult themes
1. Chapter 1

_This is a Claire/Elle fic so if you don't like it don't read it._

1.

Elle walked up to the house slowly, contemplating what on earth she was actually doing there. She had felt compelled to come with Sylar on this little mission to get the cheerleader, however she'd yet to figure out _why_.

Entering she saw Noah and Claire standing there, almost as if they were waiting for her. Almost as if _she_ was waiting for her.

"Hey girls" She said smoothly, brushing her attention over the blonde to focus on the bigger problem at hand, Noah. She flicked her hand to gather a ball of electricity but nothing came, "You have the Haitian here", she stated flatly.

Noah pulled out his gun, and she sighed, she should really invest in one of those things. "No. Just me" he said staring at her through those eyes that so haunted her late at night. She waited for her back-up patiently, not willing to give Noah the satisfaction of thinking he had the upper hand. His smugness annoyed her immensely.

"Back out of the house. _Now_", he ordered as he moved across the room, "You're not getting Claire" Thankfully, Sylar finally decided to appear behind them, "Funny story. We are" he said smoothly, as Elle rolled her eyes at his arrogance.

But when he flicked his finger and nothing happened she realised that they may not be as in control of the situation as she had thought. This was bad. Both men seemed to realise this at the same time Elle did, as they lunged at one another with fists flying.

"Clare. Stay back!" Noah yelled as he tried to fight off Sylar, the good old fashioned human way. Elle took the opportunity to grab the gun that had somehow been kicked to the ground in the struggle.

She pointed it at the two of them as the thrashed about on the floor, then she clicked, _this was too perfect, _she thought. She wanted an answer to what she should do and here it was handed to her on a silver platter.

She let the gun drop from its targets and down to her side, watching for another second as they wrestled about on the ground, looking utterly ridiculous. _Silly boys_, she thought with a head shake, they really were making things easy on her.

Elle turned to face Claire who was cowering by the stairs. Walking to her swiftly she grabbed her by the arm and bent down, "I'm guessing that your little ability has gone too, but this little contraption" she said waving the gun, "Still works just fine. So come with me quietly and no one will get hurt. Not you. Not _him_" she motioned towards the mess of limbs rolling around on the bare wooden floor.

Claire glanced at the men as Elle pulled her up, "Don't worry, he is currently as useless as me and you. I'm sure they will tire themselves out soon enough".

She guided Claire out the door and heard Noah shout out, but he didn't get a chance to follow them as she heard the scuffle re-ignite.

"Where are you taking me?" Claire asked in a whiney voice, and Elle almost regretted her decision to keep her away from Arthur, _almost. _But something in her wouldn't let her do the sensible thing. It was infuriating, these feelings she had no control over. She wasn't even sure what they were, but she knew she had to get Claire out of there.

"Just get in the car cheerleader, we can save the catch up chat for later", with that she opened the door and shoved her in the drivers seat, wincing when the girl hit her head and yelped. She would have to remember that she was breakable now. Quickly rounding the car, keeping her aim on the girl she jumped in the passenger seat, "Drive" she told her.

"Where?", Claire inquired making no movement to follow her order.

"Just drive I'll direct you. And step on it grandma we haven't got long". Elle muttered settling back in to the seat, and wondering where on earth she _would_ take the girl.

# # # #

Elle was relieved when she spotted a motel off the dusty highway. Planning seemed to be over rated, as everything was falling easily in to place. This being on her own stuff didn't seem as hard as Daddy had led her to believe.

"Pull in here" she said with as much authority as she could muster. Her new found confidence made her feel powerful, even without her ability.

The blonde obliged and when the car stopped Elle tucked the gun in to her waistband, snatched the keys out of Claire's hand, and popped the boot to grab her duffle bag. Turning around she begun walking towards the reception. Claire scrambled behind her, "I'm free to go?" she asked, confused.

"I've done my part"

"Your part? What's going to happen to me? Did they put you up to this? " she spat out angrily.

"No one put me up to this Pom-Pom. You helped me out, and I don't like to be indebted to anyone. You're free to go," Elle motioned out to the seemingly endless desert.

"To go where exactly?, we're in the middle of nowhere"

Elle shrugged, "You're safe…And I need a shower, a slushy and a burger. You can do whatever you please; maybe your little _boyfriend _can fly in and pick you up"

Elle tried to act casually as she turned and walked towards the dingy office, fighting down the burning feeling that appeared when she thought of West. She was sure it was because of the little stunt he had pulled on her. _Yes that was it,_ she thought quickly.

She was relieved when she heard footsteps follow her up the stairs after she had paid for the room, but she was careful not to turn around or give Claire any indication that she knew she was there. Even though there was a fluttering in the bottom of her stomach.

Leaving the door open she dumped her bag on the overstuffed orange chair and kicked off her shoes. When the door closed with a soft click, she finally turned to face Claire.

"Why?" was all she said, looking at Elle intently. She knew she wasn't referring to her lame excuse before, but she still wasn't ready to admit why she had done to herself, let alone the girl standing in front of her.

"I never wanted to be a part of another company…but I felt responsible for Gabriel, I thought I could help him", she shook her head and sighed, "But when I saw him with Arthur I knew it was a matter of time before he turned again. And when I heard they were going to take you to Pinehearst…"

Claire shuddered slightly and Elle didn't miss it, so she stopped.

The girl just continued to look at her searchingly, making Elle feel uncomfortable, so she spoke again, "The question you should be asking is what the hell has happened to our abilities…being human is really off-putting. I feel weak and useless."

Claire suddenly smiled widely and Elle looked at her like she was insane, as she reached up and felt the bump on her head, "I was so flustered I didn't even register…I _felt_ the car frame hit me".

"Yeah that's kind of the problem blondie" Elle replied furrowing her brow.

"Its not a problem Elle, it's….this is what I've wanted ever since I found out about what I could do", the look of pure joy on her face made her eyes sparkle and Elle's lips twitched in spite of her best efforts, fighting the involuntary reactions the younger girl was bringing out in her.

She looked down to hide her face, and replied in an unsteady voice "You want to be useless?".

"Not useless Elle…to be normal. I want to feel alive".

Elle returned her gaze to the girls face, "Well that's touching, but you won't be alive much longer without _your_ ability and _I_ need mine back if I want to make it on my own".

"You were willing to get rid of it before", Claire replied swiftly, with an eyebrow cocked.

"Yes well, I didn't think that logically through did I? I have no skills, no experience….I don't think executioner will go down _super_ well on my resume".

Claire shook her head and walked towards her grabbing her by the arms, Elle was nervous about the invasion of her personal space but Claire was too committed to her point to let Elle get a word in, "Don't you see, you can be anyone. You have a second chance"

"No Claire, _you_ can be anyone. _You_ have a second chance" She backed out of her grip and turned, talking as much to herself as to Claire, "I spent the better part of my life in a glass room, with an IV of lithium in my arm. I can't interact with people. They make no sense…."she let the sentence drift off.

Suddenly aware of her emotional vulnerability she turned sharply and looked Claire in the eye, wanting to make sure she didn't think she was weak, "I'm a sociopath", she smiled wickedly, "…a company girl". She added more softly.

"Your not a sociopath", Claire said looking at her, "If you were you wouldn't have saved me…you didn't have to. That has to _mean_ something".

Elle furrowed her brow, "I'm not sure why I did that" she replied honestly.

Claire grinned, "So the sociopath likes me, I'm flattered".

Elle wiggled a finger back and forth, "Don't get too cocky, you might make me reconsider".

"You don't have your powers Elle, kind of takes the bite out of your threats". Elle had momentarily forgotten about that little tid-bit, but decided not to bring up the gun pressed against her body, as she didn't want Claire to call her bluff. Instead she took it out and laid it on the table softly.

Then she walked to the window and looked out, contemplating what was happening to them, "Arthur was sketching the eclipse" she murmured softly, "So maybe its something to do with that?" she said hopefully, "Superman gets his powers from the sun, maybe we do too" she smiled trying to lighten the situation.

Claire looked crestfallen, "So it's not permanent?".

"No. You should be back to your crash dummy self soon enough" Elle replied with a shrug. "At least then I won't have to worry about you"

"_Why_ do you care what happens to me. And don't give me that 'I owe you' bullshit" Claire zeroed in on her once again, but this time Elle didn't move, "Did you feel something that day on the plane?" she prodded.

Elle shook her head quickly, but couldn't stop her heartbeat from accelerating, "You're crazy, midget" she said smoothly.

"Look me in the eye and say that", Claire challenged her, "Because according to you once this eclipse is gone I wont be able to… that day on the plane there was something there, and I _feel_ something now between us and I don't want to let it go….it might be my last chance"

"Claire…" , Elle felt nervous, exposed. She didn't have the upper hand, they were equally powerless, and Elle didn't like feeling that way. She needed to regain control of this situation, and quickly.

She strode towards the girl and kissed her fiercely, she ran her tongue over her lips forcefully, barely waiting for her to respond before she deepened the kiss and pushed her hands in to her hair.

Claire moaned against her and Elle smiled, she liked being in control. It was short lived, however, as Claire pushed her back on to the bed forcefully, straddling her as she did but never breaking the kiss.

Elle let her hand roam over Claire's curves, appreciating how they were rounded in all the right places; _this was how a body should feel_, she thought as the cheerleader shivered under her touch.

Claire was not one to be one upped, however, and as she pushed down with her strategically placed leg causing Elle let out a moan of her own as all her blood rushed south. _So they were going to play this game,_ she thought mischievously.

Elle pulled off Claire's shirt and helped her with the jeans, before doing away with her own clothing. As she looked in to the younger girl's eyes she was momentarily paralyzed. Claire took the opportunity to place kissed all down her neck softly and she murmured softly, "I should probably tell you that I've never done this before"

"We don't have to…" Elle started, not really knowing if she could stop even if she tried.

"I want to" she heard the husky response and let out the breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. Claire's legs were smooth and perfect as they straddled her sides, her kisses becoming softer…more delicate. Elle pulled her down tightly in to her body, she felt her breasts on her chest and placed a trail of kissed her way down her neck as she undid her bra, disposing of it somewhere around the room.

Claire's hips started grinding against hers as she arched up in response. For someone who had never done this before, she really knew how to torture a girl.

Elle slid her hand under Claire's waistband tentatively, making sure it was ok with her, and received an eager sigh in response. She moved slowly, suddenly very aware the girl pressed against her was now every bit as delicate as she looked.

She slid her middle finger in to her slowly watching her eyes for a reaction. Claire rocked against her and threw her head back, as Elle moved rhythmically. She wrapped her arms around Elle's neck for support as she thrust her hips faster, and Elle was surprised when she suddenly slid off of her and faced her on her side, sliding her fingers under Elle's waistband and mirroring the motions she was making.

Elle's head flew backwards as she tried to control herself, and Claire's free hand slowly brought it back to face her kissing her lips hungrily, _passionately_. She dug her nails in to Claire's back to try and steady herself, to pull herself back to reality.

But Claire moaned which pushed Elle further towards the point of ecstasy, she growled as their movements became faster and more intense and she pushed back the pain her hand was trying to tell her to feel because every other sensation was more intense at that moment, until she finally gave in and felt her inner muscles begin to tighten and constrict and her body slowly numb. She knew that Claire was right there with her as her walls her tightening around her fingers.

Panting and resting their heads against one another they didn't move for a few minutes, just staring at each other and enjoying the light buzz that was coursing through their heightened senses.

They finally moved and Claire gathered up Elle's hand and started playing with it, tracing patterns, "So that was what everyone was on about" she smiled, "I can see why they are all so obsessed".

Elle shook her head, "No that was something else"; she said softly, "It's not always like _that_".

Claire turned to face her once again, "Its not?".

Elle laughed, "Don't get all cocky on me, but _no_".

"So I'm good at it".

Elle grinned in spite of herself, "You're perfect".

Claire smiled a dazzling smile and kissed her on the lips softly, before snuggling in to her, twisting so their bodies were molded, but she never let go of her hand.

"I'm scared" she heard Claire murmur quietly, almost so softly she didn't hear. Elle hesitated, "Scared of what?".

Claire sighed, "That ill get my ability back that I won't be able to have this ever again. That I won't be able to have_ you_".

Elle answered honestly, despite everything she had ever learnt about never letting her guard down, "You can have me for as long as you'd like."

**Note: I wrote this on impulse after watching the episode. Could be a one shot, or if someone actually reads it I can extend it. Let me know! xo**


	2. Chapter 2

**Claire's POV ~ Beware: Adult themes!**

2.

Claire woke with a start, sitting up straight and searching the room frantically. She was in bed alone. She knew almost instantly where she was because she had tried to stay awake as long as she could just holding Elle, making sure she was _there_ and that she was real.

_This _is exactly why she hadn't wanted to go to sleep, knowing that what had happened was too good to be true, that believing she could be happy and feel alive was too much to ask for, and it was already gone.

The indent next to her in the bed reassured her that it was at least real, and that it had happened…. however, that meant something almost worse then her going insane.

She flopped back on to the bed and growled lightly at all the possible and equally horrible scenarios running through her head, but they all led back to one thing. Elle had snuck out sometime during the night.

Even her bag had disappeared from the couch and the gun was no longer on the table, _"_You can have me as long as you'd like,_ my ass"_ she muttered. She couldn't believe she had let herself believe what Elle had said to her.

"Talking to yourself Pom-Pom?, and they say_ I'm _crazy", Claire shot up and tried to push down the wave of relief that shot through her body at the sight of the older blonde walking through the door casually.

"Where _were _you?" she asked, trying to keep the whiney tone out of her voice. Elle just shrugged and sat down on the end of the bed, "Well you slept _forever_, and my internal clock is still set on company time, which has a strict no lazing about policy_…_ but you looked all peaceful and I didn't want to wake you."

Claire studied her trying to read what it was she was thinking, but she wasn't having any luck. She was_ here _but she was also situated on the furthest edge of the bed.

Elle spoke again first, flicking her hands in the hair, looking pretty ridiculous "So I went out to test out my powers, but still nothing…", Claire couldn't help the smile that briefly crossed her features and Elle didn't miss it.

"Don't get too excited Claire, I'm sure its still temporary…it hasn't even been twenty four hours", but she began crawling up the bed towards her heart fluttered more violently, as she got closer, "But for now you can feel…_this"_, she kissed her teasingly on the lips, her body still arched in her crawling position.

Claire sighed in to the kiss and nodded, "Yeah I can still feel that…'tis nice", Elle sat back and feigned hurt_, "Nice?…_I think you meant to say _earth shattering_….", Claire ginned and shrugged, "Nah, it was just nice."

Elle cocked an eyebrow and crawled right up so she was straddling Claire, then she kissed down her collarbone and her still bare chest, pulling the white sheet that was covering her modesty.

Claire struggled to maintain her focus, but lost it when Elle made her way to her final destination. Her tongue danced between her thighs and Elle stared up at her, moving her hands up to massage her breasts gently.

Claire was already close and she was so embarrassed that it took no time at all but she couldn't help herself, the sensations buzzing through her body were so raw and so powerful…she hadn't felt _anything_ for months, but she hadn't felt anything like _this_ in her entire life.

She arched up in to Elle and knew what was coming, after having experienced it for the first time, mere hours ago. She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth as the contractions started; relaxing her muscles once they slowed and stopped.

She lay back on the bed panting and Elle climbed back towards her lying down on the pillow next to her. Claire was too blissfully relaxed to move, and Elle seemed content to play with her hair, wrapping it around her fingers.

"What are we going to do?" Elle asked finally, not stopping her fingers from twirling strands, "Hmm?", Claire responded, still groggy.

"Surely I didn't tire you out this much…maybe next time ill have to take it easier on you" Elle nudged her softly, but propped herself up on one elbow so she was looking down at her, searching for an answer.

Claire knew that Elle had never really had the luxury of making her own decisions, but neither had she…it was just for entirely different reasons.

"I'm not sure…" Claire suddenly sat up, narrowly avoided hitting Elle in the head, "Oh my god! I completely forgot about Dad, I have to call him he'll be worried sick." Claire reached for the motel phone, but Elle stopped her grabbing a hold of her arm.

"Oh come on cheerleader, the motel phone? Do you _want_ to get caught?" Claire realised that it was probably not the greatest idea, as Elle walked to the cupboard in the far corner of the room, pulling a disposable cell out of her neatly stored bag and throwing it to her.

"Good thinking", Claire said, as she dialled the familiar number.

"Yeah well keep it short, anyone could be tracking you". Claire nodded as she heard to number start connect. He answered on the first ring and she could tell by his tone he was frantic. "Hey Dad", she said meekly, feeling guilty already.

"Claire!" the relief in his voice was evident, "Honey where are you?"

"I'm safe, I got out of town, I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier….", she stopped herself there thinking that he might not appreciate the specifics.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this but stay where ever until you get you powers back.", he said sighing in to the receiver.

"You think I'll get them back?" she asked, holding on to the hope this was a more permanent change, no matter how remote it seemed.

"I was told that they should return tonight, it was a twenty four hour anomaly.", he sounded comforted but Claire felt her chest constrict and she stole a glance at Elle who was walking out of the room and in to the bathroom, "Oh" was all she could reply.

"Yeah, it's a relief. So once you get your ability back we need to get you back here where we can protect you."

"I'm safe here Dad." She replied, not wanting to return to the real world just yet.

"You can't protect yourself Claire; I think we proved that yesterday at the house, you haven't trained…"

"I'm not by myself Dad.", she interjected quickly, without thinking. There was silence down the end of the line for a few moments, and Claire wondered if she should have let that slip, "Who's with you?"

Claire wrestled with herself for a moment before she decided she didn't want to lie, she was too tired of the lies, "…Elle", she said softly.

A string of profanities travelled down the line as Noah struggled to come to grips with this. Claire cut him off, "Dad she snuck me out of the house yesterday, and she offered to let me go on my own but I didn't want to…she has had nearly twenty four hours to turn me in or kill me if that was her plan."

"You can never tell with her Claire…what has she told you? Did she say something about me?" Claire was confused, "Why would she have said anything about you?"

Noah sighed, "Never mind, we've sent someone after Arthur. This may be our only chance to get rid of him with this eclipse, while he's powerless….ring me back at dusk and I'll tell you the outcome"

"Okay Dad"

"And Claire...I love you"

"I love you too". Claire ended the call and threw the phone on the floor. She sat thinking about what her father had said for what she thought was a few minutes, but it must have been longer, as Elle walked out of the bathroom freshly washed and dressed. She barely glanced at Claire.

"Did you speak to your father?"

"Yeah…I'm supposed to call back in a few hours."

"Ok", Elle seemed distracted and edgy, and she still wouldn't meet Claire's eyes, "Well princess, I'm going to find some food, you have a shower and collect your stuff, and I'll meet you in the diner"

Claire was about to protest but Elle had grabbed her bag and the gun and made her way to the door, opening it and closing it swiftly. Claire watched the door for a second, and her heart soared when it opened, but only a hand reached back in and placed the gun on the table, before shutting again.

Claire sighed, but supposed that was about as much affection as she could hope for from Elle at the moment…at least she knew that she wanted her safe.

Getting up, Claire made her way to the bathroom and saw an outfit laid on the chair. She smiled as she turned on the water and stepped under. S

he had just finished washing her hair when she noticed the temperature gauge was set way too high and she looked at her skin…it was red, but there was no pain.

She panicked and turned it up as high as she could but nothing. Hyperventilating she walked out and grabbed a razor slicing at her leg, she couldn't feel it and the wound healed. Not as fast as usual but it was healing, and her skin had already returned to its natural colour.

She slipped on to the floor, the room suddenly feeling achingly small as her head spun and her eyes started watering. She was back to normal….well back to _abnormal_.

She sat there for god knows how long, shaking on the dirty motel floor naked, before Elle finally returned. She sounded angry, but Claire couldn't bring herself to listen to the words. She felt so alone.

She did notice her tone changed when she entered the bathroom and saw her there. The little indestructible girl completely broken.

**Authors note: If you like please review so I know whether to continue, cause if no one's reading I wont xo**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! As ****Masterperson**** said, yes it is blackmail, but I feed on reviews, and can't get motivated without them! So I don't feel bad about it :P But thanks, I read all of them and appreciate them. Xoxo**

**This is Elle's POV.**

3.

Elle was leaning against the car with her arms folded tightly against her chest and a scowl gracing her delicate features…she hated waiting. She was _way_ too impatient to put up with this. Usually she wouldn't have waited this long for anyone, but she didn't want to appear needy or whatever. She didn't_ need_ anyone.

The cheerleader had been in the motel room for over an hour, it was ridiculous. _What could she possibly be doing in there?_ She thought with a sigh.

Claire looked perfect from the moment she woke up, which was slightly annoying at the same time as being endearing, so it wasn't as thought she needed to spend this much time in front of the mirror.

Elle muttered under her breath and cast a sideways glare at the fat reception guy who was staring at her in a way that made her want to zap him. He'd better not think about her on his date with his right hand tonight. She shuddered slightly and pushed herself off her position on the car, she was over this.

Elle made her way to their room, determined to show Claire that she couldn't treat her this way, she wouldn't put up with it. It was all part of her new persona, she was a strong, independent woman - - or whatever it was Beyonce had told her to be in that stupid song.

She drew in a breath and swung the door open, "Come _on_ princess, some of us work on real time. Let's go!", Elle looked around and saw the room was empty. Confused she almost turned around and walked back out, but a muffled sound from the bathroom made her walk towards it, "Are you serious, you're still…."

Elle's words faltered when she saw Claire sitting on the ground shaking and looking blankly in to space, her heart constricted in a way that she had never felt before, she was almost shaking herself.

Grabbing a towel off the rack she wrapped it around Claire tightly, and rubbed her hands up and down her bare skin, trying to warm her up to stop her from shaking.

Pushing the hair off of her face so she could look in to her eyes, she realised that they were blank and unfocused, "Claire", she said softly, "Claire, look at me."

There was no response as the girl just let tears seep out, Elle started to panic, she didn't know what to do. She had rarely been comforted and was trying to remember scenes from movies or books or anything that could guide her. She needed so badly to make Claire feel better, but she didn't know_ how._

"Claire, _please_", she heard her own voice quiver and tried to stop it, knowing that they both couldn't fall apart.

Seeing a razor and some droplets of blood on the tiles beside the girl she quickly moved the towel to check for marks but Claire was completely fine, realizing what must have happened Elle flicked her hand and made a ball of energy appear, and watched it for a moment as it sat on her fingertips…their powers were back.

Elle was about to try to comfort the broken girl before her when the door flew open and Peter and Nathan stormed in, yelling, swearing and stomping….Elle had thought such dramatics were supposed to be reserved for girls, _apparently not_. She was too stunned to move, so she stayed still, bending down with one hand on Claire and the other holding a ball of electricity.

Elle was initially confused when Nathan violently pulled her to her feet, before she realised that the ball of energy was still sitting in the palm of her hand, cursing she let it die out and held her palms up defensively.

Peter had already run to Claire who was still sitting catatonically on the ground wrapped in the motel towel, and staring blankly ahead.

"What did you do to her?", Nathan spat out aggressively, shoving her against the bathroom sink, making her stumble slightly. She would have zapped him back right then but thought she didn't need to be on the bad side of _both _of Claire's fathers.

"I didn't do anything _to_ her, I was _helping_ her…", she said calmly. Peter scoffed and Elle's chest boiled, he really was a self righteous little thing.

Nathan jabbed his finger in to her chest, "You're helping her?, If you think this is _helping_ her you're more fucked up then we thought".

Elle gritted her teeth and tried to calm herself, she hated it when people got in to her personal space, "We just got out powers back, I was testing it."

"Our power have been back for over half an hour, how do you think we got here so fast?", Elle sighed, "I didn't, I try not to think about _anything_ you do. You're severely annoying…but I had other things on my mind I didn't realize."

Nathan ignored her and continued, "We tracked Claire's phone call here, and thank god we did who knows what would have happened otherwise…"

Elle crossed her arms over her chest, "I probably would have helped to figure out what was wrong with her, without you bozos causing such a ruckus, have you even asked her what's wrong?"

Peter grabbed a robe and tied it around Claire, who still seemed oblivious to the commotion, which worried Elle immensely, but she didn't think running over to comfort the girl would go down particularly well at that instant. Instead she watched Peter fumble over her, as her heart constricted painfully.

"Are you ok!?", he yelled at her as though she was deaf, "What has she done to you?! Claire!?". Elle sighed and figured that they wouldn't listen to her, and Nathan still had her cornered, her fingers were itching to give him the shock he deserved, but she held back. How was Claire related to these people?

Eventually, after the sound of Peter yelling at Claire grated on her last nerve and she said evenly, "She has her powers back, its not physical genius. And if it's psychological you yelling at her isn't helping her any."

Peters head snapped up, "Why would it be psychological?", Elle rolled her eyes, "Do any of you people actually _talk_ to her? Or is it just _at_ and _around_ her?". Both men looked at her blankly, and she realised they really didn't know anything about Claire.

"She has been struggling with the repercussions of her ability…it's getting more consuming, she is feeling less and less". Nathan shook his head, "She's fine, Elle, give me your hands."

Elle cocked her eyebrow, "Any why on earth would I do _that_?", she asked, despite the situation she was amused that _fly boy _thought his powers trumped hers, _silly boy_.

Nathan tried to grab at her, "You're coming with us."

"Like hell I am", Elle stepped back, sick of letting them think they had any upper hand on her, she was _nobodies_ bitch. She let her hands spark as she stared Nathan down.

Nathan squatted down like a wrestler, "I'll never go back there, you' have to kill me first", Elle stated flatly.

Nathan never broke eye contact, "That can be arranged" he growled.

Elle let her hands light up completely, "_Oh it's on_", she whispered back.

A whimper from the corner made Elle immediately drop her hands, Claire was looking straight at her, still dazed but looking_ at_ her. "Elle", she whispered quietly, "Don't…"

Peter cut her off, "She wont hurt any of us Claire it's ok", and he scooped her up in his arms. Claire fought against him weakly but he didn't notice as he passed her to Nathan. "Take her, I'll meet you back there". Nathan hesitated, but Peter waved him off, "Just get her back there she needs help."

Elle looked up at them, startled to see that Claire was looking directly at her as the two men spoke logistics, Elle blinked back the tears that sprung to her eyes. She looked so scared and confused.

Claire looked straight at her, and softly, almost inaudibly, finished the sentence that Peter had interrupted, "Don't leave me…" she said, and Elle let a tear roll down her cheek. She reached out but there was a flash and a gust of wind and they were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Elle looked at her hand which was still outstretched and lowered it quickly, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the dimly lit space….unwilling to believe Claire was really gone.

It had all happened so fast, and she was still trying to grasp it in her head…suddenly wishing that she was the funny little man with glasses so she could turn back time.

She should have _never _let Claire make that call to her father…she should _never_ have left her alone. She couldn't bare knowing the younger girl was suffering and she couldn't do anything to make it stop.

A movement to her left caught her eye, realising that Peter was still in the room, she cursed under her breath, wishing he would leave her in peace. He had already ruined her life, the least he could do was give her some space.

She turned away from him and violently brushed away the tears leaking from her eyes. There was no way she would let him see her like this. She took a few deep breathes to steady herself.

"Now what shall we do with you?" he said finally.

Elle turned back to face him. _Now she was just pissed._

"Are you serious? The eclipse is over _Emo_ boy. I have my powers back; _you_ on the other hand are still as useless as ever." She walked towards him, trying to regain the upper hand, "Back off and I won't hurt you. I don't _want_ to hurt you."

Peter studied her for a few seconds and shrugged, "We can't let you run off in to the sunset Elle, you're dangerous and unpredictable…you're a liability to us all."

Elle threw her hands in the air, frustrated, "Stop saying us, like you have anything to do with our little mutant movement anymore. You can't be exposed Peter. You're _nothing_."

He inched closer to her, "Then why are you afraid of me?" he said with a smug little smile. Elle wished she could tell him the only thing she was afraid of was how pissed off Claire would be if she short-circuited her uncle.

"I'm not" She replied flatly, standing her ground, "And chances of you dragging me back to that hell hole are slim to none…and I just said slim because it sounded better out loud, chances are actually flat out nil."

He made no move to leave, and Elle was getting bored with this little power play. She let her fingers light up to warn him, "I don't _want _to hurt you, but I will". He smiled a lop-sided grin, "Why don't you?"

Maybe Claire would get over it, she mused, as the words stuck in her throat, she opened her mouth but promptly shut it again; she didn't owe him any explanation.

_Especially when she could barely admit her reasoning to herself._

Walking past Peter she exited the bathroom and started for the front door, but hegrabbed her arm. Elle gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to calm down; she was inches from freedom and teetering on the edge of her breaking point.

He was waiting for an explanation and she blurted out a toned down version to make him let her go before she toasted him. "I'm trying to be good. And….Claire seems to be fond of you, for some unknown reason", she said shrugging her arm out of his grasp and straightening her jacket up.

She opened the door but didn't step through it before he replied, a throaty laugh preceded it, "You're doing this for Claire, oh come on are you serious?" stopping dead in her tracks Elle said nothing, but a sensation of cold anxiety appeared in her stomach.

She didn't like how _amusing _he had found her explanation.

Feeling compelled to defend their relationship or whatever it was, Elle lifted her head and replied confidently, refusing to let him taint this, to taint _them_.

"She's been good to me".

He studied her and responded in a tone suitable for a child, she hated when people looked down on her, like she understood nothing, "She's been good to you because she is a _good_ person Elle. She is too nice _not_ to"

Elle felt bile rise in her throat, "She cares about me" she responded trying to swallow the sinking feeling.

His pitying gaze didn't falter, "Don't delude your self Elle. You're a cautionary tale, of what could have been. But it will never be more then _that_, more then a fleeting act of compassion on her behalf"

Elle said nothing, mainly to control the anger and fear coursing through her body, she was aching to release some energy, her entire body was shaking. She didn't like this, it felt like actual physical pain without the satisfaction of a cool scar.

Every word and every touch she had received from Claire was now being viewed on rerun in her head, checking for hidden meanings …did Claire really pity her? Was Elle the closest warm body when the eclipse was on? Her mind was in overdrive and her palms were sweating as she clenched and unclenched them in rapid succession.

"_You know nothing, boy_", she couldn't help that her breathing was becoming increasingly ragged. Or the images that were pulsating through her mind.

"You think I don't know my own niece better than you?" he said with an eyebrow cocked, "What have you met her like twice? She left you at Pinehearst, and she will always choose us over you Elle…_you're_ nothing"

"Get out" she said flatly.

Peter was about to refuse when he saw the pulsating light coursing through her body. He exited quickly and shut the door just before the energy exploded out, beams of electricity running from her body.

Unfortunately it felt less satisfying then it usually did. Even when the room was a blacked mess and she was hunched on the ground in its centre exhausted, she felt nothing but the dull ache in her heart.

###

Claire struggled against Nathan, but she gave up because her limbs felt heavy, and her eyelids were drooping against her will, she was just so….tired.

She had tasted happiness and now she was supposed to go on like it had happened and she wasn't sure that she could. Maybe it would have been better if she never _knew_ what could be, never _knew_ what she could have.

She was trapped in this invincible body and she ached to be free of it. For all she knew she was doomed to live in it for eternity, watching everyone around her live out their lives and exit stage left while she would be always watching, forever the spectator in her own life.

She felt drained, and let her eyes droop closed, smiling softly when the image of Elle flashed across them.

She relaxed back in to Nathans grip.

# # #

Elle stood up and brushed furiously at her face, but gave up when the wretched tears were coming too thick and fast. This wasn't who she was raised to be…this wasn't who she was. She didn't _need _anybody, and she would be pitied by no one, especially not pom-pom.

Elle understood now why her father had severed all of her emotional relationships when she was growing up. She just wished she had listened to him, instead of having to learn this lesson herself. It was a particularly brutal one.

She may have no skills, experience or friends in the real world, but she had a shit load of special tricks up her sleave and she was sure she could find a way to get what she wanted….well most of it.

Walking out of the room numbly she looked around and saw that Peter had left, probably to avoid getting caught up in the aftermath of her power meltdown. Looking up she saw that the manager was staring at her and had the phone gripped between his little fat fists.

She covered the length of the car park in long strides and threw the door to his office open, "So pork chop, how long until the cops get here?", he just shook his head back and forth, stuttering.

She let an energy ball form in her hand, "I said how long?" His voice was strangled but he replied, "Ten minutes".

She smiled, "God bless the under-staffed police force", she said with a sigh. Aiming to narrowly miss his head, she smelt the singe of his hair as he dropped the phone receiver to the ground.

"You will tell them I've headed south, or I'll come back for you and I won't miss this time", the hairy beast nodded profusely as sweat trickled from every pore in his body.

Elle rolled her eyes and walked outside, unlocking the car and sliding in to the passenger seat, she started the engine and tore out of the parking lot. This was how it was supposed to be.

_Her against the world. _

**_Note: _Thanks for all the reviews guys! I was super busy this week, but the reviews kept coming so I had to update! Great motivator :P Hugs to all. xox**


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note:** Sorry I've been flat out! But the reviews kept popping up so I pulled my act together for an update! love all the reviewers you make my day xox

5.

Claire sat up in her bed and whipped her head around so quickly she heard her neck crack. Her breathing was labored and it took her a few moments to realize she was in her own bed…that she was no longer at the motel with Elle.

Memories from the past few days flooded in to her memory…and they made her entire body tingle. A smile crept across her face, and she thought it was so wide that it might have hurt her face, had she been able to feel it. Claire knew she may not feel physical pain again, but knowing that she wasn't dead inside was more then enough.

The reason she had felt nothing inside wasn't because there was nothing there…it was that nothing had ignited her heart yet…until now. Until Elle.

It may not have been an instantaneous revelation, but she had been so focused on what she had lost, she couldn't fully grasp what she had gained. But after such a momentous discovery, Claire didn't like how normal everything looked…everything was in the exact same place as when she had left days ago. Seemingly, the only thing that had changed was her.

She shook her head softly in amazement…it was truly curious how feelings that were so intense, that pulsated through her entire body…didn't effect her entire world. Everything had all stayed the same in her absence, however nothing as she had once viewed it.

Smiling as the memories of the older blonde flashed through her head on repeat, Claire jumped up and threw on an old sweat shirt hurriedly, trying to sort through her muddled memory to work out how exactly she had gotten home…but Elle's face seemed to be all her brain could focus on.

Exiting her room, and bounding down the stairs two at a time, Claire suddenly came to a screeching halt when she saw that there was a group of men assembled in her living room having a quiet, but heated discussion.

Nathan, Peter, Noah and two people that she did not recognize were situated across the room and they all had solemn expressions on their faces. Trying to remind herself of the very real danger that she was still in, she tried unsuccessfully to wipe the grin off her face.

However she couldn't replace the wide smile plastered across the room and gave up quickly; too curious to find out what was going on.

They finally realized she was present only when she was physically in front of them, and they immediately ceased their hushed argument. Claire walked over to her father and looked at the strangers warily as Noah embraced her tightly, "How are you feeling Claire?" he said after he had placed a kiss on her head. Claire took a moment to search the adjoining rooms with her eyes, looking for Elle.

She shrugged, "I'm perfectly healthy", she responded, and he seemed satisfied with that. After all, her body was fine. Her heart was aching to see Elle, and her lips….well she didn't think that such thoughts were appropriate in front of her two fathers.

Trying to focus on the situation at hand, Claire looked up at her father from her position still within his embrace, "What's going on Dad?", she asked once the silence became uncomfortable, and it was apparent no one wanted to reignite their talk in front of her.

Noah tightened his grip, "Arthur's dead…Sylar took him out, and we're pretty sure he got to everyone else that was in the building with him," Claire pondered this for a moment, unaware if it was wrong to feel relief when so many people had died, she decided not to dwell on what she couldn't change, "That means I'm safe though right? That they aren't after me any more?"

Noah sighed, "Yes and No", Claire hated it when adults did that. Gave cryptic answers and then wondered why their children couldn't understand what they were on about. Claire pulled back from him, "And what does that mean?"

Noah sighed, "He is stronger than ever, unpredictable…and powerful. We aren't sure what his next move will be or how to counter it".

Claire shuddered slightly at the thought of the bushy eye-browed menace running around with new powers…taking out innocent people. She sighed, realizing that this would never really be over, "What do we do now?"

Noah lifted his glasses up and pinched his nose, rubbing his eyes before placing them back in place and looking directly at her, "You don't do anything. We will handle this," he waved his hand to gesture at the men in the room. Claire gritted her teeth, getting increasingly frustrated at being treated like a child, "Dad that's ridiculous, I'm an asset…and you need all the help that you can get at this stage."

Noah waved his hand again dismissively and Claire sighed. Resuming her subtle search of the surrounding rooms for Elle, her eyes caught sight of the daily newspaper, and they nearly bulged out of her head, the date on the paper told her she had slept for nearly two days!

Suddenly she snapped her head up again, no longer caring about keeping up appearances, "Where's Elle?" she directed the question at Nathan and Peter, who had still not spoken. They glanced at each other and then both searched the room for something to look at rather than meeting Claire's eyes.

"Where's Elle?" she repeated, her tone more urgent. Peter finally turned his attention to her and answered, "We're not sure". Suddenly she felt queasy, but experienced no relief in the knowledge that her other feelings were also operating at full capacity.

"You're not sure!? She was at the motel, what happened? Why isn't she here?" Claire could hear her voice getting increasingly high in pitch and bordering on hysterical but she couldn't have cared less at that moment. The fact that no one would look at her was making her feel sick to her stomach.

She knew that they wouldn't speak to her if she continued acting like this so she sucked in a few deep breathes and attempted to steady herself, tried to act like she was in control…but she desperately wanted to stamp and scream to get the attention she needed. They didn't appreciate how much was riding on this. How much her happiness was dependent on Elle?

"Where is she?" she re stated for the third time, her tone more even. Peter hesitated, "We're not sure. The last time I saw her she was still at the motel…" Noah interrupted, "And Peter should have brought her back here, now we think her and Sylar have teamed up, and that is one team we can't afford to see. They will be catastrophic."

Claire shook her head violently, "She wouldn't do that…she was trying to turn her life around, it makes no sense." Peter sighed and shrugged, "Elle took out half the motel Claire, and now she's taken off". Claire tried to stop her mind racing but it was all jumbled and she couldn't make sense of it, "I don't…what do you?…she wouldn't…".

Peter still wouldn't meet her frantic eyes and it made her wonder what it was that they were keeping from her, "Were you there?", she asked incredulously.

He kicked his foot against the throw rug, "Yeah, I was there when it happened."

She searched his face, "So what happened, there has to be an explanation, she wouldn't do that for no reason, what did she say…you have to have some evidence, you cant just go around spouting out these theories. I need proof if you want me to believe it".

"We had a…disagreement, and she told me to get out. I did and then she took out half the building", Peter said softly.

Claire shook her head slowly, trying to wrap her mind around what the hell had happened. "So she warned you to get out…she didn't mean to….".

Peter interrupted her, "No she told me to get out…but the motel attendant wasn't so lucky, she scared him half to death…threatened him with her powers and took off before the police got there." He saw Claire wasn't going to reply and continued, "As far as we know she has hit at least two banks and a petrol station in the past two days….and that's just what we've heard through our connections, who knows what else she's been up to."

Claire turned away from the men and walked over to the stair well, leaning against the banister for support, she closed her eyes, this can't be happening, she thought.

"I said I need proof…." she whispered, trailing off, not sure what more to say to make them understand…they couldn't. She flinched slightly as a heavy hand touched her shoulder, and turned her around; Peter bent his head to her height and looked her in the eyes, "I'm sorry Claire. I know you thought you could trust her, that she was your friend, but…you have us. You'll always have us, and we'll get through this together".

Claire shrugged away his hand, but she couldn't form any words to reply, everything was hazy and she felt slightly off balance.

"You're still not one hundred percent better, you should go back to bed", her father said softly. But Claire knew better, she knew her body was perfectly functioning, it was her heart that was faltering.

She didn't know how she was supposed to believe that Elle would just take off and do a complete turn around. Now, she was supposed to accept that Elle was off the rails, and joined forces with Sylar again?

The thought of them together made her shudder. And it wasn't for the same reason everyone else was scared, it was her own entirely different reason.

"I'm fine Dad, I'm not going back to bed", she said finally. She looked at Peter, "She had to have said something…given some indication…a reason why", Peter hesitated, but shook his head to indicate that there wasn't. She couldn't lose Elle.

She wouldn't give up on her without a fight, even if the older blonde was confused, Claire wouldn't condemn her like everyone else in her life had. Elle needed someone to believe in her, even if she didn't believe in herself.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

Elle glanced around the room and was annoyed that she wasn't happier with her accumulated bounty. Fleetingly she looked at the designer clothes, electronic gadgets and the jewellery, but saw nothing that spiked her interest…she didn't feel anything, and she _needed_ this to be more fulfilling.

There was no triumph, no satisfaction – and it was utterly _annoying._

Kicking a Calvin Klein dress out of the way, she plonked herself down on the bed, and grabbed her slushy off of the bedside table. Elle sat with the straw trapped between her teeth, but she didn't have the energy or the will to take a gulp. She just gnawed at the straw as she stared at the muted television.

Elle was truly bored…and really lonely. She frequently went to say something, only to realise that there was no on there to listen to her. It was off-putting, as she had never been alone before in her entire life. Well not physically alone anyway.

Emotionally, however, her father had really fucked her over – but he had always just _been_ there_. Someone_ had always been there.

Consequentially, all this time on her own had been torturous. Compounded by the fact that all she had to do in these periods was to think, which was the one thing she really couldn't afford to do at this point. Because thinking led back to one thing…well back to one person, and that was just too much for her to deal with at the moment.

Elle wanted nothing more than to be independent and worry free, but it turns out, _surprisingly,_ that robbing stores and threatening little humans gave her no satisfaction anymore, and this change couldn't have come at a more unfortunate time…it was all she had ever known and there wasn't anything else she could even contemplate doing.

The rush and feeling of exhilaration was no longer appearing throughout her body when she was carrying out these robberies, and the only reason she kept doing it was the intense boredom she was experiencing. That was a worry as she was sure that things would not get any better, and that they could only really get worse.

It wasn't as though she would feel less abandoned, as she had no family or friends to cheer her up, and more upsettingly, it wasn't as though she would miss Claire's touch less with time…._that _would only intensify. Elle was already fretting that she was beginning to forget her scent and it had only been ten days – ten _agonising_ days.

Putting her slushy cup back on the bed side table, Elle stood up and made her way over to the bathroom, which was surprisingly far away given the sheer size of the room she was in. Just as she was about to pass through the doorway, she felt a tingle down her spine, and her body immediately stiffened.

Her time with the company had taught her to trust her instincts, so she summoned a ball of electricity in to the palm of her hand and turned around slowly. Her body was as rigid, but for the flicker in her hand.

When Elle had finally turned around completely, she saw him leaning against the wall casually. A smirk was plastered across his face and his hands casually shoved in to his pockets.

She let the flicker die out in her hand, knowing that it was best not to provoke the man standing before her, "What do you want Sylar?" she sighed crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

He faked a hurt expression and pulled his hands out of his pockets to clutch at his heart "No hello? No how have you been? No explanation as to why you took off with the cheerleader and left me high and dry?" he put his hands back in his pockets, "That wasn't a very nice thing to do Elle…naughty girl."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, "Arthur isn't _my_ father, and I realised I didn't want to follow orders anymore. It had less then nothing to do with you Sylar, don't flatter yourself."

He flinched slightly, and the grin disappeared from his face, "Well it turns out that he isn't my father either…well he wasn't." Elle felt her stomach tighten a little when she realised what he had done, that he was back to his old tricks, "You killed him", she stated softly.

He nodded and the smile returned to his face, "I killed them all."

"Them?" she enquired casually. As if this was a normal conversation, it was best not to encourage him, "Arthur…his whole team. Everyone."

Elle nodded but she didn't let her face betray her emotions, silently relieved that no one was left to go after Claire, though she chastised herself for still caring. She shouldn't let the girl get to her so much, it was infuriating. "Well done", she said in a dry tone, as she pulled a beer out from the mini fridge.

He smiled and flicked his finger to pop the cap off the bottle as he moved in toward her, "Don't you want to know why I'm here? How I found you?" Elle took a gulp of her drink and shook her head, "I figured that you would tell me soon enough." He nodded excitedly, "See that's what I like about you Elle - we fit, we get each other."

"I don't _get_ you Sylar - and we are nothing alike", he smiled pushed a few stray strands of her hair out of her face. Elle was determined not to give him the upper hand so she didn't shrug away from his touch. She stood still and forced herself not to shudder.

"_But we are_", he whispered softly, he leaned in so his mouth was right next to her ear, "And we are perfect for each other…why can't you see that?" Elle shook her head softly, but no words came out of her mouth.

Maybe this _was _the best she could do…maybe it was enough to be adored by a psychopath. Perhaps she was expecting too much to want anything more. It had hurt enough when Claire had left her after _two days_; getting any more invested in anyone would be devastating.

She wouldn't make that mistake again. Her stomach felt heavy and her heart was hurting but she lifted her chin, "We are not perfect for each other Sylar, but we are perfect partners, but that's all I'm offering...a professional relationship".

He smiled brightly, "I'll take that much…for now", he added more softly. She rolled her eyes and walked back plopping herself in a chair. "So what's the plan?" He raised an eyebrow, "The Plan?", she nodded, "Yeah _the plan_."

He raised his arms up and laughed, "There is none, aren't you sick of plans and schedules?, there is too much company girl in you still. The world is our oyster Elle, and we can take from it what we want, when we want…that's the only plan we have to have from now on,"

Elle smiled in spite of herself, "I like the sound of that."

Suddenly feeling slightly less alone.

# # #

Claire paced in the waiting room, feeling very anxious. If her father knew that she was here he would have killed her himself. Well - not literally, but he would have been furious.

When her grandmother finally appeared Claire was so lost in thought that she slightly jumped in fright, and Angela smiled at her reaction…she was creepy like that.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise," she said as she motioned for Claire to follow her in to her office. Claire said nothing as she settled in to a chair opposite from the woman she barely knew, and she waited until her heart had slowed a little before she started, "I have a proposal for you", she said finally.

The older woman laughed, "You aren't one for small talk I see, must have gotten that from _our_ side of the family", Claire ignored her comment and continued, "I could be useful to you…all I need is some training, and I would be invaluable….that's a given".

Angela shrugged, "I've always thought that Claire, but your _fathers_ disagree…" Claire didn't miss a beat, "Neither of them can really stop me if I decide to do this, and I have decided".

"But why?", she prodded. Claire struggled for a lie, "I think I could make a difference…I think I want to stop people from mis-using their abilities. I feel passionately about protecting innocent people."

Angela smiled, "In time child, first we would train you up in administration and training, one day you can help to track down rouge…"

Claire interrupted her, frustrated, "I _won't_ wait…I want this _now_". Angela smiled widely at her, "Impressive." The older woman shuffled some papers that were sitting in front of her as she continued to speak, "We will still have to train you up, but you can actively work in the field at the same time. You cam join an existing team so you have back up."

She scanned some of the files in front of her quickly, "Here you go, Mark and Andrew. A female will help them in their undercover operations so everyone wins. Come and I'll introduce you."

Claire beamed back at the woman, feeling a rush of affection though she knew it wasn't because she actually liked Angela, it was because she was finally doing something productive to get Elle back…to get her life back.

**Authors Note:** Don't worry they will meet up soon! xox. Ps - reviews are love ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors note:** I know everyone was impatient for them to meet up again so I have made this a flash forward of sorts :P.

_**Six months **__**later…**_

Elle walked through the rubble that littered the store floor, kicking it aside to give herself enough space to wade through. Looking around she tried to see where her partner had gone, sometimes, _well most of the time_, she thought that he was more trouble than he was worth.

She really didn't know why she was still with him other than out of habit. He was like one of those ones that you just cant be bothered breaking, like cleaning up the bathroom after six months…it's just easier to let it get worse and worse and hope someone else will deal with it eventually.

He was also a warm body, and he listened when she talked. That was more then she would have if she decided to go off on her own again. She really did hate being on her own.

Finally she saw a shadow hovering in the distance, across the far side of the room. Elle picked up her pace and got to him just as he was standing over some poor human, who was gasping for air and wheezing on the ground. She grabbed Sylar's arm lightly, careful not to spook him.

It was times like this that she was actually glad that he adored her as much as he did, because it meant that she actually had some leverage over him. If she didn't have this advantage she would have been dead by now, along with a lot of other humans along the way.

"Lets go…we got the money - there is no need for this," she said softly guiding him away, seeing his pupils were dilated and wild she felt a small shudder through her body. The old man clutched at his chest and Elle felt a pang of sympathy, wanting to leave him alone as soon as she could.

He shrugged her off, "I see the _fun_ police have come back again", he said dryly, "What has happened to you Elle, you used to be so exciting to be with and now your moral and boring." He folded his arms and made a face like a child who couldn't get his way.

Elle returned his glare with equal ferociousness, "So exciting is killing old defenseless men is it Sylar? I must have missed that life lesson". She stepped in between him and the man, "We're going. _Now_."

He shrugged and the grin that appeared on his face was menacing, but he turned and walked with her towards the two bags full of cash they had gotten from the safe. They picked up one each and made their way out of the store.

Elle turned and looked at the man still cowering on the floor, but thought that leaving him alive was about all she could manage today. It was getting harder and harder to even do that these days. _He was getting worse._

She slid in to the passenger seat as he jumped over the car door, once they had reached the front of the store, he was always the exhibitionist.

They had both thrown their bags in to the back seats, and Elle slid her sun glasses off her head and on to her face, leaning down in her seat and closing her eyes, she was over this. _He wasn't_.

"That was a great take," he said, his voice practically buzzing with excitement.

"Yeah," she replied softly, not really caring.

"I think we should hit a bank this afternoon," he said tapping his fingers incessantly on the steering wheel.

"Why?" Elle asked, exasperated.

"Why not?" he countered and Elle opened her eyes to look at him, "We have more money that we know what to do with! There is no point to this anymore" she gestured around them, to the mess they were leaving behind in their wake.

"Well…", he looked straight at her as he drove, putting his foot on the gas as he did, he liked to try to scare her, "We could go ability hunting, I could teach you…we could be more powerful than ever…"

Elle broke eye contact with him and turned towards the window looking at the blurry shapes going past, "Why?" she repeated, feeling like an spoilt child, but not being able to stop herself, "Why bother? So we can get more money we don't need? its not going to make you happy Sylar. There's never going to be a point where any of this finally fulfills you."

He moved his eyes back to the road, thoughtful. "There will be a time," he said nodding to himself, as if reassuring his own mind that there would be.

Elle was curious, "When will that be?", she asked, genuinely interested. "When Noah finally tracks us down and I can take my time disposing of him", Elle rolled her eyes, "You don't even know that he is tracking us."

He looked at her incredulously, "There is someone hot on our trail, and who the hell else would be following us around state to state? Who else would be stupid enough to try" Elle shrugged, "I guess your right," she said and then continued, "But if you would stop sneaking off to try and steal people's abilities then I doubt they would care about us. Can't you leave well enough alone?".

He shook his head and laughed in to the wind, "Half the fun is leaving them a mess to clean up. They made us like this Elle and now they are going to have to deal with the consequences".

Elle returned her focus to the window, and sighed. She was over this life, and she just needed to get away.

The mention of Noah brought up the same old memories, which plagued her every day anyway. She had never really gotten Claire out of her head. It had actually gotten worse as the days past. She felt lonelier; more isolated….more shut off.

She didn't like to think of her too much as she knew that the younger girl would be happy and content in her perfect life, with memories of them being but a faint _forgotten _memory. She didn't like to be thought of like that because Claire meant so much more to her than anything that could be confined to a faded memory.

Sylar had been persistent in his pursuit of Elle and she had finally given in…given him her body but no more. It was nice to be wanted, if nothing else. Rejection hits you hard, she now realized, and knowing that there is someone who worships the ground you walk on can sometimes is comforting, even if it's not the one you want.

She knew he was getting annoyed at her emotional distance, but he was so self absorbed that he was usually distracted pretty easily. She would never offer him any more then her flesh, as try as she might to deny it, her heart belonged to someone else, even if she didn't want it, it would always belong to Claire now.

Gritting her teeth as Sylar laid his hand on her thigh she turned away from his touch, she was not in the mood to pretend today. She was too tired, and thought of the younger blonde consumed her.

She hoped that Claire didn't know what she had been doing, but she doubted that she would care either way. _And that's what hurt the most._

# # #

Claire shuffled papers on her desk as Mark and Andrew argued over whether to have pizza or Chinese take out for dinner. It was infuriating sometimes, to be the youngest and still feel like she had to mediate these men who behaved like boys. She was only 18 but it felt like so much more time had past. She felt as though she had aged decades in these past few months.

She tied her long her back in to a tight pony tail and answered the phone sitting on her desk on the first ring, "Hello?" she said, unable to keep the weariness out of her tone. She had been learning all the administration duties during the day and had physical training as soon as she got off work, it was exhausting but it was paying off. She had advanced quicker than any other agent in the company's history. She was a prodigy of sorts apparently. _She just felt tired._

The receptionists too perky voice made its way down the line, "We have another one for you Miss Bennet", Claire felt her heart thump abnormally hard, "Where?" she said breathlessly, "LA" she responded quickly, knowing the drill, "Two jewelry stores, a bank and a car dealership", Claire nodded and immediately felt ridiculous, "Any fatalities?", she nearly held her breath.

"No. None this time, but one store owner saw the two of them using their powers and heard them arguing. Angela thought it might be helpful for you to talk to him", Claire slammed down the phone and grabbed her coat, throwing it on as she addressed her partners, "They hit again, and there is a survivor that Angela wants us to talk to."

The two men looked at each other and sighed, they started a game of paper, scissors rock to see who would have to make the trip with Claire. She always went, but there was no need for the three of them to all make the trip. They had stopped bothering to tell her to take a break, because she never did.

Andrew lost with paper and grumbled under his breath as he followed Claire out the door, her short legs were out striding him as she almost ran to the car. She wanted to talk to someone who had seen Elle, she wanted to know what she had said, what they had fought about. She needed to know everything. It had turned in to her obsession.

# # #

Claire waded through the rubble piled on the floor through a path that someone before her had cleared, and then she ducked under the yellow police tape that surrounded the interior part of the store. The place was a mess, it looked much worse than the last one.

Each was getting progressively worse actually. She assumed that Sylar was getting more violent, more volatile. Every one thought she was insane for insisting that Elle wasn't the one responsible, but she didn't care what they thought of her. She didn't care what anyone thought of her these days. _Well anyone, bar Elle_.

She secretly hoped that Elle would think that she was more grown up when they finally met again. She hoped that maybe she would regret leaving her. In any event, she had to know what had happened. Both what had happened to make her take off and what had occurred in the intervening months.

She had moved in to her own apartment a few months prior, with the help of Angela, of all people. Noah wasn't happy, obviously, but she was home for dinner at least once a week and spoke to Sandra almost every day.

It was just hard to learn about her father and what he had done and still see him in the same light that she once had. Still idolise him. He was a perfect father; he just wasn't a perfect _human being_. He was actually a pretty questionable human being. And that freaked her out a lot.

She hadn't been able to bring her self to read all of his files. But two she had to read and access with the guise of background research were Sylar and Elle's. He had played a heavy hand in their lives. Sylar's was obvious; he moulded him in to what he had become. Elle's was more subtle, but just as disgusting, if not more so because of the feelings Claire held for her.

The testing, the neglect...the exploitation. She had cried the first few times she had read that file. Aching to comfort the girl locked in the room alone and scared. It was had to believe that no one had taken pity on her. The number of people that she saw daily as they poked and prodded her and not one of them thought to treat her like the child she was. Especially not her 'father'.

Claire gritted her teeth; they shared that in common too. They both had fathers they couldn't trust. At least Noah loved Claire. That was more than Elle had ever gotten from hers.

She couldn't help but think how easy it would have been for her to be that girl. And it could have been her locked up like an animal, but for a twist of fate. _A twist which was kind to her, cruel to Elle. _

Considering everything, the fact that Elle was who she was, was even more amazing. She loved her more now, if that were even possible. She knew that the older woman wouldn't like her knowing, but it wasn't pity, it is awe. Claire wouldn't have survived. That much she knew. She needed to tell Elle how she felt, and she hoped that it would change something, but even if it didn't she just wanted Elle to know, she deserved that much.

Straightening her jacket up she approached the man who was sitting up on a raised block of cement that had been strategically placed there as a make shift bench. She smiled softly at him, hoping to make him feel at ease and it worked as he smiled back immediately. Sometimes it helped being a young blonde, it made people trust you.

"Hello Mr Yates", she said as she approached him and took his outstretched hand, "I'm Agent Bennet", She looked back to see Andrew doing background work and sighed. He hated interviews, so she always had to fly solo on them.

"Agent Bennet," he said with a nod at her, She sat down on the block next to him, "Are you feeling better today sir?", she said with genuine concern, worried about the stress this must have put on him. The agents who arrived prior to him had given him some story about stress and a mild heart attack causing his hallucinations, or something along those lines. Sometimes it was funny what people would believe to avoid the truth.

"Oh, much better thank you", he said brightly, "Now I'm just thankful to be alive," the police man who had been standing their pitched in, "Yeah sir, you are really lucky. Those two psychopaths have been on a rampage across the country. I can't believe they didn't kill you, you should invest in a lottery ticket," Claire shot the man a look, indicating for him to back off. The downside of being a young blonde was of course, that the other officers didn't respect you...

To her surprise the elderly man jumped in, "Oh he would have killed me, he wanted to". Claire winced, _that wasn't what she wanted to hear_, but she got out her note pad and pen.

"Yeah, the man with the bushy eyebrows, he had this crazy look in his eyes. I thought I was a goner." He nodded and got a wistful look on his face as he recalled the prior events.

"What happened to stop him?" she prodded, her pen waiting expectantly on top of the paper.

"She did. The little blonde," Claire felt her heart beat quicken exponentially but she bit her tongue, not trusting her own voice. The police officer took care of that for her, "The blonde?"

The older man nodded enthusiastically, "Yes. Pretty little thing, she came over and stood between us. Told him he wasn't to hurt me that they had what they had come for."

The police man let out a low whistle, "Wow, that's unusual"

The man shrugged, "She seemed quite apologetic, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was coercing her. Little thing like that can't be doing it of her own free will. Surely not"

He nodded to himself, convinced, "Yes she looked at me as they were leaving and it was like she wanted to come back but decided against it, she's my guardian angel, that one"

Claire just sat dumbly nodding, before remembering to write when she saw Andrew approaching. She tried to control her breathing rate, tried to stay calm. Andrew leaned down when he finally reached her and whispered in to her ear, "Witnesses place them at a hotel thirty minutes south. This could be what we've been waiting for. They could still be there. Do you want to send in SWAT?"

Claire stood up so fast she had a head spin, "No we'll go. They wouldn't be able to handle this. SWAT would just aggravate them. We can handle this." She focused on breathing as she headed towards the exit, towards their car.

He looked at her dubiously, "We can?"

She nodded and suppressed a smile, "Yeah we can get through. This can end peacefully"

He shook his head and smiled ruefully, "I really hope you know what you're doing".

She nodded affirmatively, "I do. I know exactly what I'm doing".

**Authors note:** Sorry I know, I'm mean. But this chapter was already really long, and obviously they meet up next update! Ps, I love all your reviews. I read and appreciate every on. Keep writing them, and I'll keep writing this! xoxox


	8. Chapter 8

Claire gripped the steering wheel tighter, she was glad that Andrew had the music on so loudly, otherwise he might have heard the bones in her hand breaking and mending over and over again. She couldn't stop herself from doing it no matter how hard she concentrated…because every minute she was getting closer to her destination. Every minute she was getting closer to Elle. Her knuckles popped again.

As much as she had played this moment countless times in her head since they were separated, now that the moment was finally upon her she had absolutely no clue what it is she would do. No idea what she could possibly say, how did you tell someone you couldn't exist without them?.

She had been so relentless in her pursuit of this reunion that she hadn't considered what it is she could say to make Elle understand. Or even if she would want to. '_Oh god',_ she thought suddenly and her stomach lurched. If she _could _vomit she is positive that she would have in that instant.

'_I'm such an idiot'_, she thought suddenly. Chiding herself for being so obliviously confident about the outcome. Elle had taken off once, who is to say she even _wanted_ to be found. Maybe she would pity Claire for following her. Maybe she would be angry.

Her brain was so busy running through every worst case scenario that she had never considered before now, that she almost drove straight past the hotel. Andrew was more attentive, and he gently nudged her arm and pointed in to the car park.

Working on auto pilot, Claire followed the direction she had been pointed to and gulped loudly. Andrew saw this and smiled, "Pay off day huh Claire? This is it – our instant promotion", she nodded dumbly, barely registering what he had said.

She opened the door slowly and made her way to the boot of the car, strapping on her two guns. The normal one and one 'special' one developed by the company through past research she wanted to know nothing about.

Apparently it was full of something that was very effective at stopping 'their kind' in their tracks. _If only they knew who Claire was_. Angela had kept that under wraps for the most part, saying that she wouldn't be in such a _'lowly_' position for long and that her two partners were so oblivious they wouldn't realise. _And they hadn't._

Claire looked at the second gun cautiously as she put it in her holster, she always treated it with kit gloves, afraid it would some how turn on her. She then watched Andrew do the same. She knew_ she_ couldn't hurt Elle…but Andrew could be pretty trigger happy. He wouldn't hesitate if given the opportunity for glory.

Claire tried to choose her words carefully and keep her tone non-panicky, "We need a plan before we rush in to this", she said finally. He shrugged and cocked his gun out of his holster, "Who needs a plan? We've got these mother fuckers cornered…this baby is going to take care of the rest." He slid the weapon from hand to hand, appreciating it.

Claire felt her stomach tighten and she fumbled for words, for something to stop Andrew getting near Elle. She _would _stop him from hurting her, but she would rather it was the right way. She knew that she wouldn't be able to stop her instincts from kicking in if he advanced on her. She would protect Elle at all costs.

She kind of understood her fathers past actions in that moment, that love you feel for someone that's so strong it trumps everyone else. _Everything else…_ Right, wrong…It's all fuzzy when it comes to protecting that.

"I think we should be careful about this", she said quickly, not even know what she was going to say as the words flew out of her mouth," We need to split them up if we are going to take them out. They will be weaker on their own. As a pair we have less of a chance."

He was distracted by her suggestion and she could see his mind mulling it over as he responded, "All we need to figure out is a way to get one of them out of the room". Andrew nodded appreciatively, "We could lure Sylar out… trick him"

Clare agreed, "Yeah, but I don't think we need to even try and get crafty. The simpler the plan is the less likely he is to think that there is something going on. If we just get him out on a sham reason like a bill he will come calmly."

Andrew nodded, "Ill go talk to the manager, see if we can arrange a porter to call him down on an overdue invoice."

Claire gave the thumbs up to him, mostly as she couldn't bring her voice to come out evenly. She was so close now that she could taste it. She could taste her. It was the most exhilaration she had felt since last time they were this close.

# # #

Elle was packing up her things quietly, taking her time, she was tired of this routine. They did it every other week. Elle just wanted to stay somewhere, _anywhere_, for more then a week. All this moving around was finally getting to her. Sylar came up behind her and slid his arms around here waist, he mumbled in to her hair, "Why are you dragging your feet?".

She shrugged his weight off of her, "I told you. I don't _want_ to go"

"You say that every time"

"I _mean_ it every time…and every time we _still_ leave. Can't we do it my way just this once?"

"_Just this once_?" he laughed, "You always get your way Elle, if I had my way we would be on to bigger and better things already. More lucrative things. We would also stop this mating dance and commit to one another."

He moved away, "But your unknown reasons stop you from any of that. What is it exactly that makes this life so undesirable? What is stopping you from embracing it?"

She continued smoothing out the imaginary creases in her folded clothes, "There is nothing stopping me Sylar…I choose not to"

He rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air, "_Choose_" he muttered laughing, "I liked it better when you did what you were told, like a good little _company_ girl."

She whipped her head around to face him, static flying from her fingertips, she was ready to rumble. He smiled like he hadn't in months…he seemed almost gleeful that he had sparked such a violent reaction.

A knock at the door broke the silence, but neither of them moved, they just stared at each other waiting for a go signal, an excuse to strike.

A voice flowed through the door, "Mr and Mrs Smith?" a pre-pubescent voice asked.

Sylar sighed, "Go away…we're _busy_"

"Uh, yeah sorry to disturb you sir, but we know you're planning on checking out today and there is a problem with your bill".

Sylar momentarily looked confused, "What? I paid cash you moron"

"Uh yeah, there are additional charges"

Sylar rolled his eyes grabbed a wad of cash and opened the door shoving it towards the pimply boy, "Here".

The boys' eyes lit up but he restrained himself, "Sorry sir you have to sign for the charges downstairs"

Sylar's hand went in to a little ball and Elle spoke up, "Behave, _sweetie_, I told you I liked it here. I still want to stay"

He turned around on his heels to face her and spoke through gritted teeth, "No problem _sugar,_ I'll sort this out and be back up to finish this"

Elle mimicked him as soon as he walked out the door "_Ill be back up to finish this"_ she said in a low voice, "What a dick", she flopped back on to the bed and let her arm fall over her eyes.

# # #

Claire listened to the bell boy from around the corner, she winced at the tone of Sylar's voice, afraid that he would hurt the young kid… then she heard _her_, "Behave, sweetie, I told you I liked it here. I still want to stay", Claire's heart raced and her mouth went dry… sweetie? She suddenly felt ill again, _this wasn't happening_.

"No problem sugar, I'll sort this out and be back up to finish this"

Claire used the wall she was leaning against to prop herself up, afraid her legs would completely give way underneath her had she not had it for support. So it _was_ true, this whole time she had been so sure that there was nothing between them. _She felt like such an idiot_.

The sound of the elevator door closing snapped her out of her haze and she remembered that she had a job to do regardless. She was going to save Elle from herself, even if she didn't think she needed saving.

Forcing her legs to move one in front of the other, she felt as though she floated to the door of room 535. Fumbling for a second she got the key card she had been given minutes ago out of her pocket and let it hover just above the slide, "_You can do this"_, she repeated to herself softly.

"Like a bandaid", she said as she slid the key quickly through the lock and used her other hand to click open the door. Before she could change her mind she took a step in to the large room and looked around for a moment, taking in the scattered money, jewels and clothes. There was so much stuff there she nearly missed the small body stretched out on the bed.

Claire struggled to speak. She just stood there dumbly staring. Elle had one arm slung casually over her eyes, blocking out the sunlight, he long golden locks sprayed out over the quilt cover. She groaned when she heard Claire. And let her arm fall off her face, but she still didn't open her eyes. Claire took the moment to study her, taking in every feature. _She was still perfect._

She spoke after another moment, but her tone wasn't as soft as it had been last time they had seen one another, it had regained its sarcastic, bitter edge. "Back already? Couldn't you just give me a moments peace?"

# # #

Elle made a groaning sound and flung her arm off her face; if he wanted to finish this she would finish it. _Oh lord, she would finish it_. She stretched her arms above her head, readying her body for whatever was coming next and then she let her eyes open finally as she sat up.

Meeting the eyes of the solitary figure standing in the middle of the room, Elle thought her heart and stopped, but her body hadn't. With adrenalin pumping through her she stood up quickly and wrapped her arms around her waist, subconsciously trying to protect herself from any more hurt from the innocent looking girl standing in her hotel room.

She must have known where to find her because the look on her face wasn't shock, it was something unreadable. Elle finally pulled herself in enough to take in the younger girl's appearance. She looked more mature…more beautiful, _if that was even possible._

Elle couldn't find her voice, and neither, it seemed, could Clare because they both just stood there staring at each other for what felt like seconds but could have been forever.

**Authors note: **Sorry the updates have been further and further apart, but its harder to get amped when I'm getting less responses. I know I'm a review w**** but whatever, I'm still going! So take it easy on me :P Love you guys that have hung in. Long update next, ive already nearly finished it but this was getting super long. xox


	9. Chapter 9

Claire finally broke the silence which had lasted so long that there was now a thick air of tension. She wanted to tell Elle everything, to tell her _anything_ that would make her understand what she meant to her. Claire was having trouble finding the words to let Elle know that thoughts of her consumed her so much that _every_ choice, _every_ action made in these past months had been done to get to this place. To get to her.

Claire had so much that she needed to get out, that she didn't know how she could ever begin. "Hey", was all that she could actually get out of her dry throat and she immediately felt stupid. Like the child she had been so desperately trying to leave behind.

Whilst Claire was internally berating herself, she realised that there was a small half smile on to the lips of the older girl. Claire beamed back at Elle, unable to wash the grin off her face, but neither of them moved, both rooted to the ground on which they currently stood.

She had to stop herself from reaching out to grab Elle right there and then. _Baby steps_, she reminded herself. Claire had to ball her hands in to little fists kept tightly by her sides to obey her internal command. To stop from reaching out to her.

She saw the way Elle was studying her face, her head cocked to the side as they continued their staring contest. As stupid as it felt she was wishing she had worn something else, done her hair differently…._when did I become such a girl_? She mused silently. She had never given a second thought to such things, but suddenly she wished she had. Elle looked so glamorous and she felt like a kid playing grown up.

Elle had yet to speak and it was making Claire anxious, she didn't know how much time they had, and she had so much ground to cover. But she knew better then to push the older girl, as she wouldn't respond well to that.

So Claire waited patiently as she drank in Elle's features, greedily letting her eyes memorise her. She had no pictures of Elle; well none that weren't pulled from security cameras…and that wasn't who she was. _Her_ Elle and everyone else's Elle were very different people.

Elle opened her mouth to speak, before shutting it promptly and looking at the ground. Claire ached to touch her but she wasn't going to give her any excuse to run away. Not again. Finally Elle looked up and met Claire's eyes, they were searching for something and Claire wished she knew what it was so she could give it to her.

Claire took one step towards her and Elle took a step back, her eyes flashing. Claire tried to bite down the rejection, "What are you doing here pom-pom?", she asked finally. Her arms still wrapped tightly around her body, forming a barrier between herself and the world.

She opened her mouth to respond but the words were spilling out of Elle's mouth now, "Why are you here? Who are you with…._what do you want from me_?", Claire took a step forward once again but this time Elle stayed glued to her spot, she was trying to act indifferent but Claire could see she was confused…scared.

"Are you actually going to let me talk?", she asked with a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

"That depends", Elle responded softly, a pout on her lips.

"Depends on what?"

"On whether or not I'll like the answer," she said with a shrug. Claire was about to answer when a stricken look suddenly made its way on to Elle's face and she shook her head violently, "Shit", she quickly closed the gap between them and grabbed Claire's wrist, pulling her along behind her toward the door. Claire tried to focus on what was happening and was about to protest when Elle's touch suddenly made her light headed. Her hands were as soft as she remembered.

"Sylar will be back any minute; you have to get out of here. He will…", Claire held a hand up and stopped her from going any further, closing the door which she had just whipped open. "He is…_busy_, he won't be back soon."

Elle looked confused, "I don't understand…" Claire fought back the urge to smile when she realised that Elle had yet to remove her hand.

"You're with _them_?" She asked, looking horrified, whipping her hand back off Claire's skin like she had been burned.

Claire shook her head softly, Elle took two steps backwards but her eyes never left Claire's face. "I'm not with them….well I'm with them, but I'm not _with_ them." Claire swore internally, _she_ couldn't even understand what she was trying to say.

"You can't make me go back there with you, I won't go." Claire was confused now, "I'm not trying to….". She began, but Elle turned on her heel quickly, putting a hand up to her forehead, "I can't believe that I didn't see this coming. Peter said you would always stick together but I didn't think…."

Claire had no idea what was going on but she knew it wasn't going well, she struggled to keep up with what was going on, _why the fuck was Peter talking to Elle about her_?

"Peter?…I don't…" She struggled to form words, to keep up, she was trying so hard to be grown up but she just wanted to fall to her knees and apologise for anything she did or didn't do. She would do anything to stop this conversation from going south, which was where it looked like it was heading, and fast.

# # #

Elle didn't know what to do, she wouldn't go quietly but she could never hurt Claire. Claire the new shiny perfect company girl, why hadn't she seen this coming? It made complete sense; she just couldn't believe Noah had agreed to it.

Claire had always been better than Elle at everything, it made sense that they would figure out how useful she would be to the company. But she didn't belong there; she deserved so much more then that.

Turning around she saw that Claire was still struggling to form words, but Elle didn't have the time to wait for her to get them out. _"Fuck"_, she whispered softly. This had to be some sort of cosmic joke.

Elle turned her back to the girl and grabbed her packed bag, "Fuck you cheerleader," she tried to slide past her but Claire stopped her. Her eyes pleading. "I don't know how I managed to fuck this up so badly, but this wasn't how I wanted this to go,"

Elle was furious, "And how did you want it to go pom-pom?", you wanted me to put my hands together and be led back to that hell hole quietly. "You have no idea…"

"I do," she interjected quickly, "I do". Suddenly Elle felt her face flush, Claire's Eyes let on that she _did _know. Elle suddenly felt humiliated. Ashamed. Everything she was trying to run away from was here and in her face. And the one person she wanted to think that she was strong and independent knew all of her weaknesses.

"_You know nothing_", Elle said. Her voice quivering.

Claire moved towards her and Elle made no movement. Her heart was beating too fast and her legs were shaking too violently. She was stuck, here at the mercy of the only person who could truly break her.

"Maybe not", she agreed softly. "But I know a few things".

Elle took the bait, "_Like_?….", Elle couldn't resist the bait.

"Like…," the indestructible girls voice was quivering and Elle wanted to comfort her, despite her mind screaming at her to run.

"Like, I know that when I woke up and you weren't there…_you broke my heart_," Claire broke eye contact but moved closer still, so that there was mere inches between them and if Elle had simply looked up and tilted her head they would have been touching.

She continued, "Like I joined the company to look for you….like I can't live without you. _Not know that I know what its like to live with you in my life_," Claire still didn't look up. "I thought that I was losing feeling because of my ability, because of what _my body_ could do, but you woke something up within me. It wasn't my body that was shutting down…it was my heart."

Elle was positive that she must have heard her heart beating violently out of her chest. She shook her head softly trying to clear her head, because she could not have just heard that correctly. _There's no way…._

# # #

Claire finally looked up and saw Elle shaking here head softly. Her chest tightened, afraid of everything that could mean. Shaking head was a bad sign. _Shit, shit , shit…_

Flustered, Claire took a step backwards. Rejection wasn't her strong suit. But Elle shot out her hand and grabbed her, keeping her in place. She slowly let her hand slide down Claire's arm until their hands were intertwined. Claire's whole body pulsated with the touch. She held her breath, afraid to ruin this perfect moment.

Elle opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the front door opening. They jumped apart, out of some weird reflex and both looked towards Sylar, who stood at the entrance grinning.

"Clare-bare!", he said and laughed softly, "_I should have known_. Like father like daughter and all that," he waved his hand in the air as he closed the gap between the three of them. Claire remained in front of Elle wanting to protect her. She saw a movement out of her left eye and was surprised when Elle quickly stepped around her, so that she was now the one in between them.

Claire didn't know whether the move was to protect her or _Sylar_. Claire's mind suddenly flashed to Andrew, her stomach flipped.

"Where's Andrew?", she said evenly.

"_Andrew_?" he put up a finger to his lips, pretending to mull it over, "Oh, skinny guy? Bad suit?…he ran as soon as I figured out his little ruse. So pitiful I couldn't even be bothered following him," Claire let out the breath she hadn't known that she had been holding.

He studied her over Elle's shoulder, "Though I am interested as to why Elle got the company's number one new recruit and I got _Joe nobody_…intriguing," he smiled.

Elle stepped forward, "_Sylar,",_ she said sternly, as though she was reprimanding a child, "Claire was just leaving. So were we. _Let's not do this_. Please"

"Do what, Sugar?" he smiled. "That's all I want to know… what the fuck is going on?", Claire stepped out from behind Elle, and stole a glance to see that the older girl was pretty pissed at her for doing so.

"What the fucks going on? Sylar, you didn't think that everybody was going to let you criss-cross the country reeking havoc wherever you went and not step in." Claire did her best to look at him with no trace of fear.

"_Let me_?", he laughed harshly, "You say that like you think you could stop me if you wanted to…_silly child_", Claire felt her face flush. She hated being referred to as a child, especially in front of Elle. Claire went to retaliate, to tell him that they had something that could bring him down. Her common sense stopped her, giving away her upper hand may not be the brightest idea if she was trying to assert how grown up she was.

She shut her mouth promptly, and Elle took over. She walked up to Sylar and put a hand on his chest pulling his face away from its lock on Claire so that it was focused on her.

Claire felt a stab of jealousy. It ripped through her entire body, she couldn't watch this….but she couldn't look away. It was like a car wreck. She couldn't help herself.

"We knew they were after us…and there will be more coming soon, we should take our head start." She cooed softly. His features softened when they locked on her. It would be fascinating if she weren't so horrified…that the greatest monster of their time was brought to his knees by the electric girl. Just like she was.

Sylar shook his head, "Or we stay and get them off our backs," he smiled, "Think of how much _fun_ it would be Elle." Elle's hand dropped from his face but her hand on his chest stayed in place, much to Claire's dismay. Elle made no move to speak, seemingly trying to find a way out of this situation.

Sylar motioned towards Claire who was standing awkwardly in the centre of the room, "We have bait, and I know how to work it so she wouldn't heal…we have an Achilles' heel", Elle stiffened and dropped her hands. Claire thought it weird that she was relieved about the lack of contact between them and not worried that she had just been threatened. _She really had lost her mind._

"No" was all Elle replied. She looked like she wanted to say more but she was choking on her words. Claire's heart swelled up when she realised she was scared. _Scared for her_. There was hope yet.

It was Claire's turn to sneer, "You think that you're keeping me here Sylar?", She shook her head with a laugh, "If I didn't _want_ to be here, I wouldn't. You _couldn't_ stop me."

"Why would you possibly want to be here Claire?", he said, his eyes cloudy with confusion.

"You know what, this is stupid. Is this a pissing contest?, I'm sure your both badass, but in this particular instance lets everyone just go our separate ways." Elle said quickly, her voice dripping with desperation.

"No", Claire and Sylar both said in unison. The room was deadly quiet as Sylar mulled something over in his head before his eyes cleared and his confusion lifted. He smiled widely.

"You want her to go with you? _You want to save her from me_?", He spun to Elle quickly, "Look at that! You must have pulled off the lost little girl better than I thought. The company wants you back." He stared at Elle for a moment, who currently had her eyes locked on Claire…the fear evident in her posture…her face. _And it wasn't fear for herself._

Sylar then slowly and then turned back to Claire, the smile vanished from his face when he saw the same desperation in her. His features had hardened. "Not the company." He said in a low voice, "You".

Claire said nothing but lifted her head up high. Elle was looking at Claire, there eyes were locked and Sylar made a move towards Claire but Elle stepped in and blocked him, "Don't".

He grabbed her arm violently, "_You want her_?" Elle said nothing, but whimpered from the force of his grip.

"Let go of her", Claire said, her voice quivering with rage.

"Don't you tell me what to do _girl_", he snarled, before focusing his attention back on Elle, "This whole time. You've never let me in, never given yourself to me. It was because of _her_." Claire's heart beat fast, her mind racing, what did that mean?

"I told you from the start that I could never give you what you wanted,"

"Why!?", he roared. His eyes wild, teetering on the edge on control.

"Because somebody already had it. _Somebody else already has it_."

"Has what?"

"Me. All of me…"

Claire's heart soared, this must be what happiness felt like. She had Elle's heart. She could stop the smile that spread over her face though she was cautious to look at the ground. Afraid to antagonise Sylar further.

He let go of Elle in disgust. His fists shaking in fury, "She's mine" he spat. Elle walked over and stood next to Claire, "I don't belong to anyone…not anymore."

He flicked his wrist and Elle went flying in to the wall, Claire moved to go to her but another flick and Claire was on the ground on the opposite side of the room. She fumbled trying to get her gun as her broken ankle repaired itself.

Sylar advanced on her and sent her flying again just as she had reached the handle of the gun that could save them. She cried out as her wrist snapped, and she could feel red hot liquid pouring down her face. Claire heard Elle cry out to her and wanted to respond but she was to focused on her gun and the ripping pain. _He wouldn't hurt Elle_, she reminded herself. She wiped the blood away with her good hand and looked up at Sylar who was wearing a menacing grin.

"Bye cheerleader", he said as he levitated a pole from the tv unit in the air, aiming for her skull. For where she wouldn't heal. Claire closed her eyes and waited for the impact. She heard terrible screaming, and waited….but it took her a moment to realise it wasn't her voice….it wasn't her screaming.

Looking up she saw Elle on the ground with the rod in her stomach. Sylar stared horrified. Claire pushed him out of the way, but he grabbed her. Claire did a sweeping kick to the back of his knees and he fell to the ground with a thud. He moved his arm to retaliate, but Claire had her hand on her gun in an instant, and she shot the liquid bullet in to this thigh. Wounding and incapacitating him.

Running over to Elle she cradled her in her arms, "Its going to be ok, I promise", she tried to smile reassuringly as she held her hand over the wound. Hearing the door fly open and hearing the rush of back up sweeping the premises, asking her questions, she ignored them. Focusing completely on Elle. On her Elle.

"I love you", she said, a tear running down her cheek. Elle smiled softly and struggled to speak, her voice coming out husky and broken, "I know you do pom-pom". Claire laughed through her tears and kissed her lips, not caring who saw. But when she pulled back, Elle's eyes fluttered closed.

**Authors note:** Mean I know. But be nice and I might keep going ;) Thanks for the reviews guys, I adore them. They make my day. xox


	10. Chapter 10

Elle groaned inwardly but she couldn't open her eyes, which felt unusually heavy. She remembered a feeling similar to this when she had drunk too much of her fathers wine. It was like she couldn't control her body…but this time she didn't like it.

Slowly she began to regain the feeling in the various parts of her body. Her legs were heavy and numb, her head was pounding, her stomach was growling and there was a soft hand intertwined with hers…_wait a second._

Elle fought to open her eyes, to make sure.

She was greeted by the top of a messy mop of blond hair. Claire was asleep, lying half on the bed, but still sitting on an arm chair that had been moved over as close as it could possibly get to the side of the bed. Their hands were still interlaced and Elle smiled as she touched Claire's face gently with her free hand, as her brain filtered through the mess of the last time she had seen the younger girl.

Elle momentarily wondered whether she had died the other day at the hotel, but decided this wasn't so bad if she had. She wouldn't mind being here for eternity one bit. After she had re-memorised every contour of Claire's face, Elle managed to pry her eyes away and looked around the unfamiliar room, which was full of strategically placed teddy bears and trophies….and pink! Lots and lots of pink. Elle shook her head softly and rolled her eyes when she realised that she was in was Claire's room. She was such a dork.

Claire must have felt the movement because she stirred, and Elle fought to maintain a cool façade, as the cheerleader looked up and saw that she was awake. Claire immediately shot up and pulled her chair up towards the head of the bed, never breaking eye contact. She mirrored the wide grin that Elle imagined must be splattered across her face by now. So much for playing it cool.

"Elle….you're ok", she breathed, squeezing her hand.

Elle shrugged, "Yeah – I'm guessing I have your super strength blood to thank for that…_so thank you_", Elle had to work to keep her tone sincere…she really did mean it but years of talking a certain way had left her unsure whether she even believed herself.

Claire beamed, "It was the first time I've actually been thankful for my ability…it was the first time it ever felt right….saving you", Elle looked at her and then looked down, still unable to look people in the eyes when she had something important to say. A habit picked up from her youth.

"You'll do more important things then this Claire…you'll do so many great things for the world. _This_, well this surely wont be one of them." Claire shook her head, "That's where you're wrong. I don't thin you realise how… I can't do this without you. I can't do anything without you. If I hadn't met you id still be skulking in my room hating the world. You made me realise what's out there."

Elle smiled and shrugged, "I am pretty fantastic", she said easily, with a sarcastic grin on her face.

"You really are." Claire said. No trace of mocking in her tone. Elle felt her heart in her throat. Elle looked down again, and Claire put her finger under her chin, "You know how I feel about you. You remember what I said to you didn't you…I do love you."

Elle smiled nervously torn between elation of the memory and the fear of having to say it back. Having to expose herself…her vulnerability. It was something she had been warned against her entire life.

"Do you have anything to say?" Claire said finally. Her eyes unsure.

"You know how I feel…" Elle let her sentence teeter off.

Claire searched her eyes, "Not until you say the words"

Elle fought an internal battle, one side of her wanting to do anything to please Claire and the other hell bent of self protection. "You know I'm not that girl…I can't…"

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"I can't" She whispered and Claire squeezed her hand, "I can wait"

"I might never be ready,"

"I can wait forever"

Elle smiled in spite of the corny line. Then diverted the conversation to cover the blush that had crept over her face, "So how on earth am I in your house without my feet stuck in a bucket or water….it just doesn't feel right"

Claire raised an eyebrow but said nothing, "Sylar is sedated somewhere….I wasn't really paying attention….and they were talking about what to do with you and I said…I told them how you saved me….and surprisingly Dad was willing to let you recover here."

"Who knew all it took to win him over was a pole to the stomach…easy peasy."

Claire rolled her eyes, "So Dad, Dad two and Peter are downstairs." Elle felt her body tense slightly but tried to hide it. She wasn't successful though as Claire's interest had been peaked by her bodies reaction.

"Oh"

"What is it?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"Nothing. It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"I worry about everything. Tell me"

"Nothing I just….Me and Peter don't get along that great." Elle shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about the whole situation.

"I remember you said something about that in the hotel room….care to elaborate?"

"Not really", Elle said, feeling like a petulant child.

"Why!?"

"He is your family; I'm not going to say anything bad about him. I'm not _that_ stupid"

"Don't say anything bad then, just the truth."

"He just….we just…we had words….and he explained something to me, and I thought it would be best if I left you alone."

"Left me alone? Something he said is the reason you never followed me? What did he say?" Elle watched as Claire's voice increased in pitch and intensity…it was making her slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't…."

"Don't protect him; I have a right to know what he said. I never asked him to be my big brother. What did he say?"

Elle hesitated, not liking to tell on someone…she thought it was of _ill taste_, but she was angry at herself for upsetting Claire _again_…and if she had to say something…then choosing between having to say I love you out loud and _this,_ well she knew which one would be easier.

"He just said…he said that you didn't really care about me, that it was more a pity thing…," Elle trailed off and waved a hand in the air, "Or you know…whatever."

Claire tensed and the grip she had held on Elle's hand faltered. Elle knew she shouldn't have said anything! Now she was angry at her….scrambling to rectify the situation Elle started to formulate words but was shocked when Claire jumped up and made off towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she blurted before her brain had even registered what was happening.

"Where do you think?" Claire said, looking furious. Elle swallowed to try and get rid of the dry throat that was preventing her from speaking but it was to no avail. No words would come out."

"I'm sorry" she stuttered quickly, "I know I shouldn't have said that but I wasn't…I'm not…I'm sorry." Claire's anger dissipated quickly, "I'm not angry at you Elle don't be ridiculous! I'm _furious_ at Peter…I don't know why he thinks I need him to interfere with my life…but I don't. I know what I want."

# # #

Claire's heart strained when she saw how relieved Elle looked…like she even had to worry about her feelings for the older girl at this point…it was endearing and infuriating at the same time.

"I want you…and if there are people that aren't happy with that then they are going to have to live with it, because I've lost you once I'm not going to do it again. _Ever_." Elle smiled and grabbed her hand again loosely, tracing her fingers over them softly, making the hairs on the back of Claire's neck stand to attention.

Once touch and her whole body was already on fire….sh_e is in recovery _she reminded herself, to stop from jumping on her right there and then. She waited this long, she could wait another few days. Her resolve, however, was rapidly disappearing as Elle continued her sensory assault, her hands now roaming up her arms.

"Elle", she breathed and opened her eyes to see the older girl smirking in her usual way, her eyes sparkling softly.

"Yes cheerleader?" She said innocently as the lifted her hand to her lips and kissed it softly.

"We should wait…." Claire said, trying to be rational. Her whole family was home, her whole extended family too. It was too dangerous to start something she knew she wouldn't be able to stop.

"For what? Elle whispered. "For you to join the company and me to go on a cross country rampage? Aren't you tried of waiting? I am".

Claire said nothing which Elle took as agreement; she tugged Claire's hand softly and pulled her down on to the bed beside her. Elle smiled softly as she brushed loose strands of hair back from Claire's face.

"My whole life I've followed everyone else's plans…their dreams. I've never really been able to follow my heart. And I might not be ready to say the words…but know that the only thing I've ever wanted this badly is you. I didn't choose this life, but I choose this …_You_…forever."

Claire didn't fight the tear that rolled down her cheek, as their lips finally crashed together, months of longing culminating in one perfect moment.

**Author's note:** Wow, sorry about the massive update delay, I've been so busy! But the review love always brings me back, thanks guys! Its not that long I Apologize, I'll be a good girl and crank out a longer one next time.


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